I wonder if Grandma used baking soda to reduce the pain and swelling caused by the sting. When I was a child my parents always treated bee stings by first gently pulling the stinger out if it had broken off and was embedded in the skin. Then they’d mix together a couple tablespoons of baking soda and a little water to make a paste. The paste was then thickly spread over the sting site.

The baking soda home remedy has always worked well—and when my children were growing up I continued to use it to treat bee stings.